Anna Nicole Smith Tragedy Touches High Country Fox News Airs Interview with Ford Shelley from Chetola Resort By Jeff Eason Ford Shelley prepares for his live interview on the Fox News TV show On the Record. His portion of the interview was broadcast from Chetola Resort in Blowing Rock. Photo by Jim Greene Anna Nicole Smith Marcia Greene and Kent Tarbutton of Chetola Resort with Ford Shelley last weekend. Photo by Jim Greene Many people in the High Country have been following the Anna Nicole Smith story as it has unfolded after her untimely death at the age of 39 on February 8th. It is likely that none of them, however, would have anticipated the story would have any sort of High Country connection. That indeed happened last week as camera crews from Fox News tracked down Ford Shelley at Chetola Resort in Blowing Rock and conducted a live-by-satellite interview with Ford and Fox News television hostess Greta Van Susteren. The interview was aired live by Fox News on Friday, February 23rd. Shelley was friends with Smith and is the son-in-law of South Carolina businessman G. Ben Thompson, owner of the Bahamas estate where Anna Nicole lived and where her lawyer Howard K. Stern and her baby are living now. The live interview between Shelley and Van Susteren took place one day after Shelley gave sworn testimony in Florida regarding the paternity of Anna Nicole Smith’s baby Dannielynn and ownership of the Bahamas estate where Smith and her lawyer Howard K. Stern resided. “Ford testified at the Anna Nicole trial in Broward County last week and then came up to Blowing Rock and checked in for a few days at Chetola to get away from the spotlight for a while,” said Marcia Greene, director of marketing for Chetola Resort. Shelley had brought his family to the mountains of North Carolina for an extended weekend away from the media attention in the Bahamas and South Florida. Of course, the Anna Nicole Smith story has been to television media what a tennis ball is to an obsessive-compulsive golden retriever. So it was only a matter of time before camera crews interrupted the Shelley family’s idyllic vacation in the mountains. “On Friday afternoon I got a phone call from Ford and he asked me if we could set up an area at the hotel for him to do a live satellite interview that evening with Greta Van Susteren on her show, On The Record,” said Greene. “Right after that call from Ford, Fox News called from New York and Washington to give me all the details on what they needed and we were off and running. “Fox sent a satellite truck and camera and sound people up from Charlotte. The interview took place on the second floor of Chetola Lodge in the Embers Room.” Greene stated that although the live interview didn’t take place until 10:30 p.m. on Friday, Fox TV crews were on site by 7 p.m. to set up cables, cameras and microphones. The entire interview lasted about ten minutes on the evening news show On The Record. “Following the interview, Ford stayed for a few minutes to chat with me and Kent (Tarbutton, owner and president of Chetola Resort). He talked to us about a meeting he had the evening before with Howard K. Stern and how they are trying to work things out.” In court in Broward County last week, Shelley testified that Smith had told him before her death that former boyfriend Larry Birkhead was the father of Dannielynn, and that she had gone to the Bahamas to escape paternity issues. He also said in court that Smith had threatened to sue his father-in-law, G. Ben Thompson, for DNA and child support but that he had had a vasectomy. Despite Shelley’s failed attempt to escape the spotlight by visiting the High Country, he told everyone at Chetola what a great time he and his family had while here. “Ford told us he loved Chetola and plans on visiting again,” said Greene. “He thinks this whole area is ‘absolutely beautiful.’”